Mortgage lending hits record in December
Signs of a revival in the UK housing market have been underlined by the strongest December mortgage lending on record.
Figures from the Council for Mortgage Lenders showed gross lending rose by £26.3bn in December, a 25% jump on this time last year.
Remortgages on fixed and discounted deals boosted the numbers, though there was a slight decline on November's total.
The CML said that mortgage lending in 2005 overall totalled £287.5bn, down 1% on 2004's total of £291bn.
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Numbers from the Building Societies Association and British Bankers Association also indicated a pick up in activity.
The BSA reported the value of mortgage approvals climbed slightly to £4.098bn in December from £4.08bn in November, though the latest total is nearly 26% above this time last year.
The BBA, meanwhile, said underlying mortgage lending rose £5.4bn in December, higher than November's rise of £5.2bn and the strongest increase since June 2004.
December is traditionally quiet for mortgage lending but the recent cut in interest rates to 4.5% and the pick up in house prices has seen the market end the year on the up says economists.
